CCSD 46 Education Foundation Reveals Plans for New Initiatives
The nonprofit organization has gained a second wind and plans to introduce the Destination ImagiNation program.
Preparing students for real life — working in teams, using creative problem-solving and developing unique skills — is the goal of a new initiative at District 46?.
The District 46 Education Foundation will sponsor the extracurricular program Destination ImagiNation.
"The program is not about preparing them for tests, it's about preparing them for the real world and working with other people and solving unique problems, reinventing unique skills,” said foundation President Kristen Roy Heupel. “It’s all about what you do when you don't know what to do. It's problem-solving on your feet."??Destination ImagiNation is structured using the “Four C’s”:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Communicating effectively
- Collaboration and team-building
- Creativity and innovation
Heupel said the foundation is modeling out the Destination ImagiNation implementation after District 70’s model. This standard model uses parents as volunteers, is a 17- to 18-week program for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.??The planned Destination ImagiNation challenge for this year is called “Built to Last.” The guidelines include: coming up with an idea for a new toy, but the students have to imagine this will be the last toy ever made, so it has to be built to last. Students will have to find a clever and creative way to present the product by using some of their own special talents or skills in the presentation.
Heupel said planning for Destination ImagiNation is a big step for the foundation, which she said has gone through many uphill struggles in the past few years. ??“By 2006, we had a lot of things established, but just never got any traction,” Heupel said. “We’ve never had a community fundraiser. The entire foundation was going to dissolve the organization a year or two ago, that’s when my husband and I joined and several other families came on board. Now we're experiencing some revitalization, and really giving the foundation new breath.”??Many members who have been a part of the foundation since its earliest days agree that the Destination ImagiNation implementation would be a huge step forward for the school district.??Tom Meskel, a retired math teacher and longtime member of the CCSD 46 Education Foundation, elaborated on the group’s turnaround and his hopefulness for the foundation’s future.??“We had no big donors and were in limbo for a few years,” Meskel said. “Six months ago, we decided, ‘Let's try again. Let's get young parents interested.’ We were pleasantly surprised with the spirit of so many young parents who are now involved. There was just a lot of drive from people with kids involved in the district. I think once people see what we are trying to do now, especially with the plans for Destination ImagiNation, they will donate.”??Education foundation member John Badovinac shared similar sentiments of excitement and hopefulness regarding Destination ImagiNation, referring to it as a new and improved Science Olympiad.??“Destination ImagiNation appeals to a very broad group with more people involved in each activity. Parents and observers get to see the events with Destination ImagiNation, while Science Olympiad is usually behind closed doors. We’re really excited about Destination ImagiNation because it really gets kids involved with teamwork and builds skills needed in the future, like communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.”??‘Last Toy’ Scenario
Members of the District 46 Education Foundation said the Destination ImagiNation program puts a large emphasis on the letting the kids create and problem solve without help from adults. Instant challenges put kids in a situation where they are quickly introduced to a problem with no preparation, minimal guidance, and a list of materials.
In this case, they are asked to build the "last toy." The exercise, however, also has applications for the business world.??“I can’t tell you how many times in business it's a fast-paced environment out there, and there’s less and less time for extensive analysis, so you have to figure things out quick. I think the program is very relevant, and it approaches the learning in a very positive and uplifting way.”??District 46 Education Foundation members believe the plan for Destination ImagiNation program will increase funding and participation from parents to support future initiatives such as mini-grants for teachers and computerized interactive whiteboards.??Heupel has been encouraging kids to do their part to help the foundation by putting their juice boxes in the proper recycling receptacle after lunch, which helps raise money for the nonprofit foundation.??According to Heupel, the District 46 Education Foundation’s income in the last year has been exclusively from employer matching and recycling, and totaled about $700. Heupel hopes that this year will bring in a higher total.??“Our goal for this year is to be spending mostly on Destination ImagiNation,” Heupel said. “The electronic whiteboards cost over $4,000, and we also would like to get some of the planned mini-grants, so we would like at least $15,000 in this first year.”
The foundation has planned their first event of the year. It is an outdoor movie screening in Grayslake’s Aquatic Park Softball field on Sept. 30. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the movie is projected to begin at 7:15 p.m. Visit the District 46 Education Foundation website at www.d46foundation.org to find out the movie title.
Food and beverages will be provided and all the money from purchases will go toward funding the foundation for projects like its Destination ImagiNation implementation. ??"I'm very eager not only to make this all happen for my own children, but for the rest of the kids in the district,” Heupel said. ”I want to look back and know that I did everything I could to give these kids and their parents the best opportunities."
